


New Old Moon

by Miramise



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Universe C
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-23
Updated: 2019-01-23
Packaged: 2019-10-14 20:18:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,327
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17515253
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miramise/pseuds/Miramise
Summary: First date in Universe C, or at least John thinks it's suppose to be a date.  He's not quite sure; Dave will have to help him figure that out.  (Or that time when two friends on a date experience the meaning of awkward, word vomit, and happy.)Spiritual sequel toAccurate Gaydars and Plastic Mistletoe





	New Old Moon

**Author's Note:**

> Originally written for the JohnDave zine somewhere between 1-3 years ago (I honestly don't remember/too lazy to find). I had intended for this to be zine exclusive, but eh, over a year is good. Also hoping it will help me break my writer's block. The moon incident refers to the post Universe C story Hussie posted to Skype. All mistakes are mine; don't bother correcting me as I'm too tired to fix anyway. Other than that, enjoy.

"I can't believe the Carapacians thought blowing up the moon was a good idea."

John lifted his gaze skyward and stared at the full moon. He could hear the slurping death sounds of a now empty can of Coke-and wasn't that amazing in and of itself in this new universe-coming from his right. His eyes darted to the side in time to see Dave toss the can into a nearby trash/recycling combo bin.

"In their defense, they thought it would be a cool gift," Dave pointed out. "Neat crescent moon for all those romantic walks along the beach and all that shit."

"Didn't anybody tell them about moons and tides and all that kind of jazz?" John gestured towards the sky. "Or how sometimes a full moon is way more impressive. Or even that we wouldn't see the crescent moon during the new moon phases anyhow? Or how-"

"Dude, Egbert, chill." Dave rapped his knuckles gently against John's head. "From what Rose told me, that's not the kind of stuff they had any experience with. So nah, they didn't know. But give them a break. Heart was in the right place and all that feel good sunshiny drips."

John huffed once and shoved his hands into his coat pockets. He took a moment before looking back up. Though moonlight never felt like much, he still imagined the sense of glow the bright orb gave off. "I would have missed seeing the full moon," he offered softly.

"Yeah, me too." Dave took a step closer until the two were standing side by side, both quietly admiring evening sky.

"It's a nice park, though," John added to the silence. "And I'm glad you and Jade could fix the moon, though I still don't get the mechanics of how you fixed it.

"You really wanna talk about how Jade and I fixed the floating sky rock while we're on a-"

"I'm curious is all!" True enough, but John wasn't sure why he felt a need to blurt that out before Dave could finish the sentence. Yes, he knew why just the two of them were visiting the new park built by the Carapacians to make up for the moon fiasco. He knew why none of the others were invited, or if they were they had all declined. He knew he knew he _knew_. But admitting it or hearing it out loud was-John couldn't explain why he was a bit anxious about that. After all, he wasn't sure if friends could do what they were doing and still be friends. There were rules about stuff about that, right? Yet a part of John wanted this to be more than simply hanging out, just not at the cost of their (finally solid and danger-free) friendship.

Dave rolled his eyes hard, the motion hidden behind his shades. "Yeah, fine, if you just gotta know. I mean, I voted for just grabbing a rock and hurling it out there and getting Jade to make it super big and all that. Easy replacement, new moon, and maybe let Dirk blow up the rest of the old one. Or Roxy; I think she'd be into 'splosions. But I get outvoted, because of course nobody wants to do things the easy way. Instead I get wrangled into some colossally-complex-because-fuckin-shenanigans bullshit plan where Jade shrank the old one down to palm size."

Dave paused here, humming in the back of his throat. "Thing was damn near pathetic, Egbert. Sittin' all broken and shit in my hand. I felt like I should've buried it; ashes to ashes, goodnight moon, I hardly knew you." He shrugged, his toe making aimless patterns in the grass. "They pretty much beg me to just roll back time on this busted pebble, despite how I'm always tellin' them I don't work like that. But damn if they don't keep harping on it. Just to get everyone to shut up, I get a clone to bring a fixed one back and switch it out when they're all arguing on getting it back into space once I'm through."

John stilled when he heard this. "Wait, if you made a time clone, then wouldn't it-he-that is-"

"Don't even worry about it," Dave said, waving his hand to brush the concern away. "Long story short, I give 'em a whole pebble, Jade takes it out to space and biggifies it, boom, new old moon."

"Ah." They both fell quiet for a moment, John looking at the 'new old' moon with new appreciation.

"So why aren't we calling this a date?" Dave asked, apropos of nothing, as usual.

John could only 'erk' slightly, heat washing over his face. He stumbled for some kind of answer, eeped, and tried again. "I mean, it-it's not _not_ a date… that is, it could be a date, though you know-you gotta do things on a date, right? Otherwise it's just hanging out like friends, and we haven't done date-y type stuff, so it could kinda go either way at this point… not that I have a problem with it being a date, or not being a date… or not _not_ a date…"

His hands flailed while John tried to explain what he didn't really have an answer to. It could be a date, but it felt like hanging out as well. There were expectations on dates, and John was fairly sure they hadn't done any of those things. Of course all John knew about dating was what-scratch that, _he_ never dated Vriska. It was supposedly some alternate doomed-ghosty-whatever version of him that dated her. John himself had no idea what a real honest to god-tiered date actually _was_. So how could he tell if this was a date or not?

Words fell haphazard from his lips as he tried to explain all of this to Dave. The blond just let him splash about the verbal sea for a bit before giving up on getting a coherent reply. He didn't need one; or rather Dave already had one between the blushing, stuttering, and knowing that John's previous romantic dealings amounted to nil.

Sparing a mercy and taking a chance, Dave reached over and plucked John forward by his coat. He made sure to keep his tongue to himself as he fulfilled one of John's assumptions on the difference between hanging out and a date.

    _This is kinda nice._

    _…I was not expecting that._

    _Definitely needs a little practice._

    _Oh good, no spit. I was worried about that._

Both young men ignored the random thoughts floating through their heads and focused on the shared warmth of the chaste kiss. Dave only pulled back when his lungs reminded him he still needed to breathe.

He took a moment to firmly stomp out any thoughts on how an Heir of Breath might kiss while still getting air.

… or do other things.

"So, is it a date? Because last I checked, hanging out doesn't involve any lip locks."

John blinked a few times. "Um…" It was difficult to answer with one's mind well and truly scrambled. "I… yes, I think so." He coughed a little awkwardly and willed the blush from his face. "I mean, you kiss when you're… or, friends don't…"

"I'm gonna paraphrase a slightly spazzy but really smart chick when I say 'friends can totes date', Egbert."

"…no channeling Roxy." John went back to his moon gazing before clearing his throat. "…I always thought a moonlit walk along the beach was better if it was full, you know?" He glanced to the side in time to see Dave nod in agreement.

"It'll still be pretty full tomorrow, if you want to admire all my hard work then."

The night air did nothing for the heat still glowing on his face. John dipped his head down into the collar of his jacket to try and hide it. A second later, he linked his pinky finger with Dave's, keeping his eyes skyward.

"… it's a date."

Ω


End file.
